Construction on city’s Tirupati Balaji temple to begin in Jan

The temple will be built in Bandra East on land allotted during the tenure of the previous the BJP-Sena Maharashtra government. It will cost around Rs 30 crore to build.

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) board, the trust that manages the Balaji temple at Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati, which has lakhs of worshippers across India, will build a replica in Mumbai, with work scheduled to start early next month.

The temple will be built in Bandra East on land allotted during the tenure of the previous the BJP-Sena Maharashtra government. It will cost around Rs 30 crore to build.

“This temple will come under Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam board which is in Andhra Pradesh. The temple will be built on similar lines of the one at Tirupati. The idol will be the same as it is in the original venue. It’s not possible for everyone to go to Tirupati and seek God Balaji’s blessings. So, the board had long ago decided to build a new temple in the city,” Amol Kale, a board member of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam trust and a member of the local advisory committee, told The Indian Express.

The design of the temple has been conceptualised by well-known architect Hafeez Contractor. The structure will have nine floors. Apart from two basement floors, the ground floor will house the sanctum sanctorum (garbhalayam). The first floor will be allocated as a rest area for pilgrims and as an area for meditation, prayer and yoga. The next three floors, including the fourth, will be allocated for staff quarters, with two houses per floor. Eight guest rooms will be constructed across the fifth and the sixth floors.

The trust was due to start construction this year, but couldn’t due to the pandemic. “We wanted to start work this year itself, but due to Covid-19, we couldn’t. Construction will now be started from next month onwards in Bandra East. It will be completed in two years. We will first have the bhoomi pooja done on January. We are hoping to open the temple to the public in two years,” Kale added.

The temple at Tirupati is one of the richest places of worship in the country Visited by over 50,000 pilgrims daily, it lies on the seventh peak of the Tirumala hills at a height of 2,799 feet above sea level. It has a Dravidian architectural style and is believed to have been constructed over a period of time, starting from 300 AD.

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